Denied going to company event - same as withholding bonus?

Sambucus_Nigra

Flyboy152 wrote: »

What if they ignored the workers' requests? What would be the next step for them? Because if the employers had any intentions of offering them something in return, they would have done so. How much, do you think, they feel they are valued?

No, that's not how it works.

The employer won't give it away at the start, they have to be approached [as a group] and negotiated with.

michilin27

Evening all

I have to disagree with the spoilt brat syndrome comments. Whilst the OP may not have explained this in the best way possible, and has made it sound like their OH is kicking up fuss for the sake of it, the organisation need to consider the underlying issue of this and the impact this decision may have on the rest of the work force. If this event is being used as a reward event, designed to motivate and reward staff, the how is the system employed being fair and transparent? Indeed, the overall creditabilty of the event may be ruined. It is also a bit rich of a company to say we want to reward our staff, but your not included! Where is the fairness there? Yes life isnt fair sometimes- however, i believe if u can make it fair in some way, you should.

If the work needs covered then surely the organisation needs to be looking at alternative options without forcing people to work whilst others are being rewarded- have seen this happen so many times before, and it can create such a horrible atmopshere in work- not just for those who arent attending, but those who ARE attending- they may feel awkward talking about it, feel like they are rubbing salt in the wounds of those that dont attend etc, which defeats the whole purpose in the first place and taints the effort that has went into organising such events. I dont know for example has the organisation considered asking for volunteers to stay? In terms of rewards in work, not everyone is motivated by the same type of reward, so there may be people going that have no interest in the event, and will not be motivated by this.

Flyboy152

Sambucus_Nigra wrote: »

No, that's not how it works.

The employer won't give it away at the start, they have to be approached [as a group] and negotiated with.

Nonsense. If the company had any intention of providing an alternative, they would have done so in the first place. I'll hazard a guess, that those going on the jolly didn't have to negotiate anything.

Sambucus_Nigra

michilin27 wrote: »

Evening all

I have to disagree with the spoilt brat syndrome comments. Whilst the OP may not have explained this in the best way possible, and has made it sound like their OH is kicking up fuss for the sake of it, the organisation need to consider the underlying issue of this and the impact this decision may have on the rest of the work force. If this event is being used as a reward event, designed to motivate and reward staff, the how is the system employed being fair and transparent? Indeed, the overall creditabilty of the event may be ruined. It is also a bit rich of a company to say we want to reward our staff, but your not included! Where is the fairness there? Yes life isnt fair sometimes- however, i believe if u can make it fair in some way, you should.

If the work needs covered then surely the organisation needs to be looking at alternative options without forcing people to work whilst others are being rewarded- have seen this happen so many times before, and it can create such a horrible atmopshere in work- not just for those who arent attending, but those who ARE attending- they may feel awkward talking about it, feel like they are rubbing salt in the wounds of those that dont attend etc, which defeats the whole purpose in the first place and taints the effort that has went into organising such events. I dont know for example has the organisation considered asking for volunteers to stay? In terms of rewards in work, not everyone is motivated by the same type of reward, so there may be people going that have no interest in the event, and will not be motivated by this.

The question was asked 'is it the same as a bonus' and no, it isn't.

The advice has been to get together with the other people, and talk to the employer.

There is nothing else really to say on the topic!

mediator

if your employer and fellow workers go away for weeks on end team building and dont invite you dont say its crap and unfair say its a result look apon it as a day off instead or mabe you could raise griavance to how its so unfair the teams a man down and theres now nobody to blow up ballons.

Sambucus_Nigra

Flyboy152 wrote: »

Nonsense. If the company had any intention of providing an alternative, they would have done so in the first place. I'll hazard a guess, that those going on the jolly didn't have to negotiate anything.

Who knows.....unless they ask the question then the OP's partner will never find out.

Someone could have requested not to go - but without communication, how would that message get through?

I believe in all employment issues, communication and negotiation is recommended before militancy.

What bit of sitting down and having a discussion do you find so offensive?

williacg

Flyboy152 wrote: »

No, they should just rollover as well, apparently, because everybody should just give into unfairness in the workplace and forget about standing up for yourselves. Where would we be, I wonder, if the trade union movement just said to all the five year old miners, chimney boys and child mill workers, "well life is unfair, get over yourselves and grow up?"

I was in no way suggesting that anyone should simply 'roll over' and give into unfairness, the point I was tryig to make was that yes, whilst it maybe unfair, she is presumably not the only one who has drawn the short straw.

At the risk of sounding unsympathetic, you only have to read through a few of the threads on this forum to read stories of people facing harassment, victimisation, intimidation, bullying and much more from their employers, on a daily basis, and dread going to work every day, does missing the company social merit causing a big fuss? I'm a union rep, and one of the first to stand up and be counted when the chips are down, but I'm afraid that this particular scenario would not be one of them.

globetraveller

To be honest there are probably as many employees dreading going. These outings usually consist of "bonding" exercises which nobody in their right mind enjoys.
However, it is pretty shortsighted of the company to divide the staff. A little bit of thought and everyone could have been "treated" to some sort of jolly.

michilin27

Sambucus_Nigra wrote: »

The question was asked 'is it the same as a bonus' and no, it isn't.

The advice has been to get together with the other people, and talk to the employer.

There is nothing else really to say on the topic!

I am perfectly capable of reading the OP post and understand perfectly their point. The point i am making is the issue isnt as black and white as is being made out and that there are potentially other issues that could arise for the organisation due to this decision.

In terms of whether this is the same as a bonus or not- i would argue, in princple, it is. A bonus offered by an employer is designed to reward employees for their efforts and to drive performance improvement. In essence, it is a reward strategy. This event is also a reward and the same princples apply for its use- reward, motivate and drive performance improvement.

I wasnt actually suggesting the OP OH go into work and start talking about reward theory, and the impact of the company decision on employee. There have been several posters on the thread that also havent offered any advice but their opinion. If you feel there is nothing more to say on the topic, i suggest you stop contributing. I on the otherhand, could debate this for hours.

Flyboy152

williacg wrote: »

I was in no way suggesting that anyone should simply 'roll over' and give into unfairness, the point I was tryig to make was that yes, whilst it maybe unfair, she is presumably not the only one who has drawn the short straw.

At the risk of sounding unsympathetic, you only have to read through a few of the threads on this forum to read stories of people facing harassment, victimisation, intimidation, bullying and much more from their employers, on a daily basis, and dread going to work every day, does missing the company social merit causing a big fuss? I'm a union rep, and one of the first to stand up and be counted when the chips are down, but I'm afraid that this particular scenario would not be one of them.

I am glad I don't have to rely on you if I was ever in a fix with an employer.

Where do you think things like harassment, bullying and victimisation start? They start with things just like this. They start off with being left out of company events, then it's the Christmas party, then its promotions and pay rises and all of a sudden, it's first in line for redundancies.